Diese Anfragebeantwortung wurde für die Veröffentlichung auf ecoi.net abgeändert.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1) Lage der mongolischen Volksgruppe

2) Gruppierungen oder Personen, die sich für die Rechte der mongolischen Volksgruppe einsetzen (Organisation, Ziele, Anzahl, konkrete Gruppen)

3) Friedliche Formen des Widerstandes (Konsequenzen)

4) Gewaltsame Formen des Widerstandes (Gruppierungen)

5) Gebiete, in denen Widerstand konzentriert stattfindet

Quellen

Anhang: Quellenbeschreibungen und Informationen aus ausgewählten Quellen

 

Kurzbeschreibungen zu den in dieser Anfragebeantwortung verwendeten Quellen sowie Ausschnitte mit Informationen aus diesen Quellen finden Sie im Anhang.

 

Der Großteil der in dieser Anfragebeantwortung angeführten Informationen bezüglich der Diskriminierung von und Repressionen gegenüber Angehörigen der mongolischen Volksgruppe in der Inneren Mongolei stehen mit der neuen Bildungspolitik der chinesischen Regierung und den damit verbundenen Protesten und Boykotten sowie der Reaktion der Behörden darauf in Zusammenhang.

1) Lage der mongolischen Volksgruppe

Allgemeines

Die Region Innere Mongolei (amtlich: Autonome Region Innere Mongolei), die sich im Norden der Volksrepublik China befindet und an die Staaten Mongolei und Russische Föderation grenzt (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Stand 20. November 2019), hat eine Gesamtbevölkerung von ca. 24,7 Millionen Einwohnern. Laut den jüngsten verfügbaren statistischen Daten, die aus dem Jahr 2010 stammen, ist die Region zu 79.5 Prozent von Han-ChinesInnen und zu 17,1 Prozent von ethnischen MongolInnen besiedelt (Staatliches Amt für Statistik der Volksrepublik China, 28. Februar 2012), welche in der Region somit eine Minderheit bilden (HRW, 4. September 2020).

In Artikel 4 der Verfassung der Volksrepublik China (Fassung von 11. März 2018) heißt es:

„Alle ethnischen Gruppen der Volksrepublik sind gleich. Der Staat hat die legalen Rechte und Interessen aller ethnischer Minderheiten zu schützen und die Beziehungen zwischen allen ethnischen Gruppen zu wahren und zu fördern, welche durch Gleichheit, Einheit und gegenseitiger Hilfe und Harmonie bestimmt sind. Die Diskriminierung und Unterdrückung ethnischer Gruppen ist verboten. Jede Handlung, welche die Einheit ethnischer Gruppen schwächt oder Unstimmigkeiten zwischen ihnen hervorruft, ist verboten. Der Staat hat in Anbetracht der Eigenschaften und Bedürfnisse der ethnischen Gruppen alle Minderheitengebiete bei der Förderung ihrer wirtschaftlichen und kulturellen Entwicklung zu unterstützen.“ (Verfassung der Volksrepublik China, 4. Dezember 1982, Fassung vom 11. März 2018, Artikel 4, Übersetzung aus dem Englischen)

Darüber hinaus schreibt derselbe Verfassungsartikel fest:

„Alle von ethnischen Minderheiten bewohnten Gebiete haben regionale Selbstbestimmung zu praktizieren, autonome Verwaltungsorgane einzurichten und ihre Befugnis zur Selbstverwaltung auszuüben. Alle ethnisch autonomen Gebiete sind untrennbarer Teil der Volksrepublik China. Alle ethnischen Gruppen sind darin frei, ihre eigene gesprochene und geschriebene Sprache zu gebrauchen und zu pflegen und ihre eigenen Traditionen und Gebräuche zu bewahren oder zu reformieren.“ (Verfassung der Volksrepublik China, 4. Dezember 1982, Fassung vom 11. März 2018, Artikel 4, Übersetzung aus dem Englischen)

Wie der britische Economist im Jahr 2017 schreibt, hat die Innere Mongolei seit 1947 den Status einer Autonomen Region. Die Migration der Han-ChinesInnen in die Region setzte bereits im 19. Jahrhundert ein. Bis zum Jahr 1949 war die einheimische Bevölkerung zu einer Minderheit geworden. Die Region erlitt während der Kulturrevolution schwere Repressionen, bei denen manchen Schätzungen zufolge bis zu 100.000 Menschen ums Leben gekommen seien. Der Buddhismus, der in der Inneren Mongolei stark verwurzelt war, wurde zerschlagen und die meisten Tempel wurden zerstört. Auch der Unterricht einheimischer Kinder in Mandarin setzte in der Inneren Mongolei bereits früh ein. So seien alle jungen MongolInnen der chinesischen Sprache mächtig, während weitaus weniger von ihnen Mongolisch verstehen würden (Economist, 1. Juni 2017). Zudem gebe es seit Jahrzehnten interethnische Ehen zwischen MongolInnen und Han-ChinesInnen. (CNN, 5. September 2020)

Aufgrund einer gezielten Regierungsstrategie der Ausbeutung von mineralischen Rohstoffen – darunter insbesondere Kohle – und der Schaffung von Infrastruktur in der Region würden Personen in der Inneren Mongolei zudem ein durchschnittliches BIP pro Kopf von 10.000 US-Dollar und damit mehr als das Doppelte von Personen im Staat Mongolei erwirtschaften. (Economist, 1. Juni 2017)

Anders als etwa die autonomen Gebiete Tibet und Xinjiang habe es in der Inneren Mongolei in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten kaum gewaltsame ethnisch motivierte Unruhen gegeben (CNN, 5. September 2020; vgl. auch Economist, 1. Juni 2017). Unter der Oberfläche würden jedoch bereits seit Jahren Spannungen bestehen, insbesondere zwischen Han-chinesischen SiedlerInnen und ethnisch mongolischen ViehhalterInnen. Letztere würden sich über die Zerstörung ihrer traditionalen Weidegründe durch den boomenden Kohlebergbau beklagen (CNN, 5. September 2020). Viele ethnische MongolInnen würden sich vom allgemeinen Wohlstand in der Region ausgeschlossen fühlen. So würden StadtbewohnerInnen, zu denen unverhältnismäßig viele Han-ChinesInnen zählen würden, doppelt so viel verdienen wie Menschen, die von der Viehhaltung leben. Von den energieintensiven und umweltzerstörenden Industrien im ländlichen Raum, die für den wirtschaftlichen Aufschwung der Region verantwortlich waren, würden zum Großteil nur Han-chinesische Unternehmen profitieren. Nur wenige der im Bergbau tätigen Personen seien ethnische Mongolen. Diese Unternehmen würden große Mengen an Wasser verbrauchen und wenig Rücksicht auf Weideflächen und die Bedürfnisse von Vieh nehmen (Economist, 1. Juni 2017). Ethnisch mongolische AktivistInnen würden den allgemeinen Verlust ihrer pastoralistischen Lebensweise beklagen. So seien ViehhalterInnen im Rahmen eines jahrzehntelangen Relokationsprogramms, das laut den Behörden Armut lindern und einer Überweidung der Böden entgegenwirken solle, aus ihren Behausungen in den Steppen in moderne Wohnkomplexe umgesiedelt worden (CNN, 5. September 2020).

Im Jahr 2011 habe ein Han-Chinese einen ethnisch mongolischen Viehhalter, der gegen den Kohleabbau protestiert habe, absichtlich mit einem LKW überfahren und getötet. Daraufhin hätten Tausende ethnische MongolInnen auf der Straße protestiert (CNN, 5. September 2020; Economist, 1. Juni 2017). Die Regierung habe damals unter anderem versucht, die Viehhalter mit finanziellen Zuschüssen zu besänftigen. Laut Angaben einer Viehhalterin würden diese Hilfen jedoch nur auf dem Papier existieren. Wegen der zunehmenden Versteppung des Landes und des Klimawandels gebe es immer weniger Weidegras. (Economist, 1. Juni 2017)

Auch in den letzten Jahren wurde über Protestkundgebungen und -aktionen durch ethnisch mongolische ViehhalterInnen gegen den Verlust ihrer Weidegründe berichtet. An diesen Aktionen hätten zum Teil mehrere Hundert Personen teilgenommen (CECC, 18. November 2019; RFA, 25. Jänner 2018; RFA, 26. April 2019; RFA, 22. Juli 2020; RFA, 14. August 2020). Unter anderem hätten ViehhalterInnen bei Protesten den Behörden vorgeworfen, bewaffnete Gangs einzusetzen, um sie von den traditionellen Weideflächen fernzuhalten, während diese Flächen von Forst- und Bergbauunternehmen, die von der Kommunistischen Partei Chinas (KPCh) unterstützt würden, ausgebeutet würden (RFA, 22. Juli 2020). Im Zusammenhang mit solchen Protesten sei es auch zu Ausschreitungen (RFA, 22. Juli 2020) und Festnahmen (RFA, 26. April 2019) gekommen. Anfang 2018 wurde berichtet, dass 35 ViehhalterInnen in einem Massenverfahren zu bis zu fünf Jahren Haft verurteilt worden seien, nachdem sie an der Blockade einer im Bau befindlichen Autobahn teilgenommen hätten (RFA, 25. Jänner 2018).

Protestkundgebungen und Boykotte gegen die neue Bildungspolitik und Vorgehen der Behörden

Bis vor Kurzem wurden SchülerInnen an Schulen mit Unterrichtssprache Mongolisch nur in ihrer Muttersprache unterrichtet (HRW, 4. September 2020) – mit einer Stunde Chinesischunterricht ab der zweiten Klasse (Baioud, 30. August 2020). Christopher Atwood, Professor für chinesische und mongolische Ethnohistorie an der University of Pennsylvania, schreibt in einem Artikel von Ende August 2020, dass das Bildungsministerium der Inneren Mongolei einen Plan bekanntgegeben habe, wonach Änderungen an der neujährigen Pflichtschulausbildung in der Region vorgenommen würden. So solle in den Fächern „Sprache und Literatur“, „Moral und Recht (Politik)“ und Geschichte allmählich zur Verwendung der vom chinesischen Staat erarbeiteten Schulbücher übergegangen werden. Diese Gegenstände sollten mithin in der Nationalsprache Chinesisch unterrichtet werden. Diese neue Bildungspolitik werde offiziell ab 1. September 2020 umgesetzt. Zunächst solle die Maßnahme in der ersten und siebten Schulstufe im Fach „Sprache und Literatur“ realisiert werden. Ab dem nächsten Jahr solle sie dann auf das Fach „Moral und Recht“ und ab 2022 auf das Fach Geschichte ausgeweitet werden. Wenn alles nach Plan verlaufe, würden daher ab 2022 alle SchülerInnen in der Inneren Mongolei in diesen drei Fächern ausschließlich auf Chinesisch unter Verwendung der Schulbücher des chinesischen Staates unterrichtet. Bisher seien diese Gegenstände an vielen Schulen der Inneren Mongolei bis zur Oberschule in mongolischer Sprache gelehrt worden. Zwar werde Mongolisch an ethnisch mongolischen Schulen in der Inneren Mongolei weiterhin als eigenes Schulfach unterrichtet, und es gebe bislang keine Bestrebungen, die Verwendung der mongolischen Sprache in der Öffentlichkeit und auf Schulgeländen außerhalb des Unterrichts zu verbieten. Radio und Fernsehen in mongolischer Sprache gebe es weiterhin. KritikerInnen der neuen Bildungsreform würden jedoch beklagen, dass die neue Maßnahme bedeute, dass die mongolische Muttersprache fortan „wie eine Fremdsprache“ behandelt würde. Die aktuelle Maßnahme sei etwa im Juni 2020 in Tongliao, einer Gemeinde im südöstlichen Teil der Inneren Mongolei mit einem großen ethnisch mongolischen Bevölkerungsanteil, erstmals bekanntgegeben worden (Atwood, 30. August 2020; vgl. auch RFA, 24. Juni 2020). Damals habe Ge Weiwei, Vizechef der Sektion „Minderheitenunterricht“ des Bildungsministeriums [der VR China] bei einem Besuch mit Nachdruck darauf hingewiesen, dass es Mängel bei der allgemeinen Beherrschung der „gemeinsamen Nationalsprache“ gebe und die Kenntnis dieser Sprache verbessert werden müsse. Nachdem Ende Juni 2020 zunächst berichtet wurde, dass Lehrkräfte in der Gemeinde Tongliao ab September das Fach „Sprache und Literatur“ auf Chinesisch unterrichten müssten, informierte das regionale Unterrichtsministerium im August 2020 zunächst in Sitzungen unter Ausschluss der Öffentlichkeit über die Ausweitung dieser Maßnahme auf die gesamte Innere Mongolei. (Atwood, 30. August 2020)

Zahlreiche Gegner dieser neuen Politik (Atwood, 30. August 2020), die inzwischen auch implementiert wurde (Professor an einer japanischen Universität, 23. Dezember 2020), würden darin eine heimliche Umsetzung der „Minderheitenpolitik zweiter Generation“ sehen. Deren Verfechter seien Gelehrte wie Ma Rong an der Universität Peking und Hu Angang und Hu Lianhe von dem der Tsinghua-Universität zugehörigen Think Tank „Centre for China Studies“. Diese würden die Ansicht vertreten, dass das nach sowjetischem Vorbild in der Verfassung verankerte Konzept der ethnischen Autonomie ein Fehler sei, und für eine Politik nach dem Modell der USA eintreten, wonach Angehörige ethnischer Gruppen zwar ein persönliches Recht auf Gleichbehandlung, jedoch kein Recht auf territoriale Autonomie hätten und es keine staatlich geförderte Erhaltung ihres eigenen Unterrichts und ihrer Kultur gebe. Dies würde bedeuten, dass die autonomen Gebiete, Präfekturen und Bezirke Chinas in gewöhnliche territoriale Verwaltungseinheiten umgewandelt würden, und zu einem rein chinesischsprachigen Schulunterricht übergegangen werde. Auf diese Ideen habe auch der oben genannte Vizechef der Sektion „Minderheitenunterricht“ des Bildungsministeriums, Ge Weiwei, bei seinem Besuch in Tongliao auf positive Art und Weise Bezug genommen. (Atwood, 30. August 2020; vgl. auch Baioud, 30. August 2020 und JF, 28. September 2020)

Quellen berichten, dass es nach dem Bekanntwerden der neuen bildungspolitischen Maßnahme in der üblicherweise stabilen Inneren Mongolei (JF, 28. September 2020) an vielen Orten zu Straßenprotesten gekommen sei (HRW, 4. September 2020; vgl. auch JF, 28. September 2020).

Bei Massendemonstrationen, die in der gesamten Region (AFP, 1. September 2020), darunter in den Städten Hohhot, Tongliao, Ordos (RFA, 31. August 2020) ausgebrochen seien, hätten sich Hunderte Eltern und SchülerInnen der Polizei entgegengestellt. Nach Angaben eines von AFP interviewten Viehhalters im Bund Hinggan hätten in der Inneren Mongolei zumindest mehrere Zehntausend Personen an Protesten teilgenommen. Neben gewöhnlichen BürgerInnen, die auf der Straße protestiert hätten, hätten zahlreiche Eltern vor Schulgebäuden demonstriert. So seien vor manchen Schulen sogar mehrere Tausend Eltern gestanden (AFP, 1. September 2020). Wie das deutsche Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF) informiert, hätten die Protestkundgebungen zum Teil zu Auseinandersetzungen mit der Polizei geführt. Dabei sei laut BAMF eine unbekannte Zahl von Personen festgenommen worden (BAMF, 7. September 2020, S. 3; vgl. auch HRW, 4. September 2020 und SMHIRC, 29. August 2020).

Die Jamestown Foundation (JF) spricht von mehr als 1.000 Personen, die bei diesen Protesten festgenommen worden seien (JF, 28. September 2020). Die Behörden würden zudem „nach hunderten Organisatoren von und Teilnehmern an Protesten“ fahnden (BAMF, 7. September 2020, S. 3). So veröffentlichte die Polizei im Bezirk Horqin der Stadt Tongliao laut Amnesty International (AI) die Namen von 129 Personen, die unter dem Verdacht stünden, „Streit angefangen und Ärger provoziert“ zu haben (AI, 21. September 2020). Nach Angaben einer Lehrerin in Hohhot habe die Polizei Fotos von mehr als Einhundert Erziehungsberechtigten, die an Demonstrationen teilgenommen hätten, im Internet veröffentlicht und sie dazu aufgefordert, sich zu stellen (Nishinippon Shimbun, 26. Oktober 2020). Darüber hinaus habe die Polizei ein Kopfgeld in Höhe von 1.000 Yuan für Hinweise angeboten, die zur Festnahme einer gesuchten Person führen würden (RFA, 3. September 2020; Nishinippon Shimbun, 26. Oktober 2020).

Berichten zufolge seien mindestens 23 Personen wegen des Vorwurfs, durch ihre Teilnahme an Demonstrationen bzw. das Verbreiten von Informationen über diese Proteste „Streit angefangen und Ärger provoziert“ zu haben, offiziell verhaftet worden. Der Aufenthaltsort der Inhaftierten sei zum Berichtszeitpunkt unklar gewesen (AI, 21 September 2020, S. 1). Laut Angaben der oben genannten Lehrerin in Hohhot seien bis zum letzten Drittel des Monats September mindestens 170 Personen verhaftet worden (Nishinippon Shimbun, 26. Oktober 2020).

Neben Demonstrationen wurde auch über weit verbreitete Schulboykotte durch SchülerInnen berichtet (HRW, 4. September 2020; AFP, 1. September 2020; vgl. auch BBC News, 1. September 2020 und Nishinippon Shimbun, 26. Oktober 2020), denen entsprechende Boykottaufrufe vorausgegangen waren (BAMF, 7. September 2020, S. 3). Nach Schätzungen der in New York ansässigen Exilorganisation Southern Mongolia Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) hätten sich schätzungsweise 300.000 SchülerInnen in der Region an diesen Boykotten beteiligt (RFA, 7. September 2020). Auf Videos seien SchülerInnen zu sehen gewesen, die Slogans gerufen und aus Protest ihr Schulgebäude verlassen hätten. (HRW, 4. September 2020). Eltern hätten sich aus Protest geweigert, ihre Kinder für das neue Schulsemester einzuschreiben (RFA, 28. August 2020). Lehrerstreiks seien weit verbreitet gewesen (SMHRIC, 29. August 2020). Auch sei es zu Streiks durch MitarbeiterInnen lokaler Medien gekommen (Nishinippon Shimbun, 26. Oktober 2020). Mitte September 2020 hätten lokale Behörden in der Stadt Xilinhot SchülerInnen und Eltern mitgeteilt, dass sie betraft würden, unter anderem mittels Streichung staatlicher Hilfen und Verweigerung von Bankdarlehen, falls sich die SchülerInnen nicht rechtzeitig für das neue Schuljahr anmelden würden, (AI, 21 September 2020, S. 2). Es wird berichtet, dass die Auszahlung von Hilfsgeldern zur Unterstützung der Viehwirtschaft an solche Eltern tatsächlich gestoppt worden sei und SchülerInnen, die der Schule fernblieben, der Schule verwiesen worden seien (Nishinippon Shimbun, 26. Oktober 2020). Wie die JF unter Berufung auf andere Quellen berichtet, seien Hunderte von Eltern, die sich geweigert hätten, ihre Kinder mit Beginn des neuen Schuljahres wieder zur Schule zu schicken, von der Polizei festgenommen worden. Einige hätten Geldstrafen in Höhe von 5000 Yuan (733 US-Dollar) erhalten, während andere in „Rechtserziehungskurse“ geschickt worden seien, die den Quasi-Konzentrationslagern in der westchinesischen Region Xinjiang ähneln würden. (JF, 28. September 2020)

Bereits am 23. August sei Bainu, das einzige mongolischsprachige soziale Netzwerk Chinas, gesperrt worden, nachdem sich zahlreiche mongolischsprachige Personen auf dieser Plattform über die Änderung der Bildungspolitik beklagt hätten (HRW, 4. September 2020). Dadurch sei es für Eltern und Lehrkräfte schwieriger geworden, ihre Aktionen zu koordinieren (RFA, 3. September 2020). Darüber hinaus seien viele Postings auf chinesischen sozialen Medien wie Weibo und WeChat zum Thema „bilingualer Unterricht“ zensiert worden (HRW, 4. September 2020; vgl. auch BBC News, 1. September 2020). Zudem seien Berichten zufolge einige ethnische MongolInnen, die sich auf diesen Plattformen kritisch geäußert hätten, schikaniert bzw. festgenommen worden. (HRW, 4. September 2020)

Nach Berichten vom Oktober 2020, die sich auf das SMHRIC berufen, wurden seit August 2020 mindestens 8.000 Menschen in der einen oder anderen Form in Polizeigewahrsam genommen. Zu den Vorgehensweisen der Behörden hätten Massenverhaftungen, willkürliche Inhaftierungen, Verschwindenlassen, Hausarrest und ‚intensiver Erziehung‘ gezählt. Unter den Inhaftierten befänden sich auch der Menschenrechtsanwalt Hu Baolong und die Aktivistin Yang Jindulima. Beide hätten sich zum Berichtszeitpunkt noch in Haft befunden (RFA, 20. Oktober 2020). Bei den Protesten seien neun Menschen ums Leben gekommen (RFA, 14. September 2020), und mehrere Personen hätten aus Protest gegen die neuen Maßnahmen Selbstmord begangen (RFA, 31. August 2020; RFA, 3. September 2020; RFA, 4. September 2020).

Laut Angaben einer Lehrerin aus Hohhot, die von der japanischen Zeitung Nishinippon Shimbun interviewt wurde, sei die Innere Mongolei kein sicherer Ort mehr. Es seien allerorts Überwachungskameras installiert worden und jede Kommunikation über Handy oder E-Mail werde von den Behörden überwacht. Diese würden die Leute außerdem zu Denunziationen auffordern, sodass die Protestaktionen bereits nach zwei Wochen fast vollständig zum Erliegen gekommen seien. Das Thema Bildungspolitik werde mitunter auch innerhalb ethnisch mongolischer Familien hitzig diskutiert, je nachdem, ob es in der Familie Kinder gebe, die davon betroffen seien. So könne es zu Meinungsverschiedenheiten zwischen Angehörigen derselben Familie kommen und es gebe Fälle, in denen sich ethnisch mongolische Ehefrauen deswegen mit ihren Han-chinesischen Ehemännern zerstritten hätten. (Nishinippon Shimbun, 26. Oktober 2020)

Anfang Dezember 2020 berichtete RFA über Massenrekrutierungen von Lehrkräften, die an Sekundarschulen in der Inneren Mongolei tätig werden sollten. So hätten unter anderem lokale Verwaltungsorgane in der gesamten Region Personalanzeigen veröffentlicht, mit denen Hunderte Lehrkräfte aus anderen Teilen Chinas gesucht würden, die bereit seien, in die Innere Mongolei zu übersiedeln, um an Schulen Mandarin zu unterrichten. Laut Yang Haiying, einem aus der Inneren Mongolei stammenden Professor, der an der Universität Shizuoka (Japan) tätig ist, bedeute dies, dass die KPCh im Prinzip Han-chinesischer Lehrkräfte suche. Diese würden, sobald sie in der Inneren Mongolei eingetroffen seien, ethnisch mongolische Lehrkräfte ersetzen und somit die staatliche Assimilationspolitik vorantreiben.“ (RFA, 1. Dezember 2020)

2) Gruppierungen oder Personen, die sich für die Rechte der mongolischen Volksgruppe einsetzen (Organisation, Ziele, Anzahl, konkrete Gruppen)

Wie Uradyn E. Bulag, zurzeit Wissenschaftler am Institut für Sozialanthropologie der Universität Cambridge, in einem Buchbeitrag aus dem Jahr 2004 schreibt, waren mongolische nationalistische Bewegungen, die sich gegen die chinesische Herrschaft richteten, in drei Perioden aktiv. In den Jahren 1911 bis 1913 habe es eine von mongolischen Adeligen getragene panmongolische Bewegung zur Wiedervereinigung der Inneren Mongolei mit der Äußeren Mongolei gegeben. Zwischen 1925 und 1929 setzte sich eine unter dem Einfluss der Komintern gegründete „Innermongolische Revolutionäre Volkspartei“ für die Unabhängigkeit der Inneren Mongolei ein. Schließlich waren in den Jahren 1931 und 1947 vor dem Hintergrund der japanischen Okkupation drei nationalistische Gruppierungen aktiv, die allesamt eine Loslösung der Inneren Mongolei aus der chinesischen Provinzverwaltung anstrebten. (Bulag, 2004, S. 88)

Christopher P. Atwood von der University of Pennsylvania bemerkt in seinem Artikel vom August 2020, dass der mongolische Nationalismus, der von der Mitte der 1920er Jahre bis in die 1940er Jahre eine starke Kraft in der Inneren Mongolei darstellte, in versteckter Form bis in die Gegenwart fortbestehe. Dieser Nationalismus sei seit seinen Anfängen im 19. Jahrhundert sehr säkular ausgeprägt und sein Fokus liege auf säkularer Bildung, einem Bereich des kulturellen Lebens, der vom Staat kontrolliert und finanziert werde (Atwood, 30. August 2020)

Zwar gebe es in der Inneren Mongolei Nationalisten, die sich mit ihren Ansichten außerhalb des Rahmens der chinesischen Verfassung bewegen würden. Doch seien die ethnisch mongolischen Nationalisten weniger radikal als jene in Tibet oder Xinjiang (Atwood, 30. August 2020). In der Inneren Mongolei gebe es – anders als in Tibet oder Xinjiang – keine separatistische Bewegung (Economist, 1. Juni 2017). Zugleich herrsche jedoch auch unter MongolInnen, die an das System angepasst seien, ein starkes Bewusstsein einer ethnisch-nationalen Gemeinschaft mit gemeinsamen Interessen, die durch den chinesischen Staat gefördert, aber auch verraten werden könnten. So könne sich die Loyalität, die sie dem Staat entgegenbringen würden, potenziell auch in Vorwürfe des Verrats durch den Staat verwandeln (Atwood, 30. August 2020).

Ein Professor an einer japanischen Universität bemerkte im Dezember 2020, dass die gewaltsamen Repressionen der Kulturrevolution der 1960er Jahre eine Unzufriedenheit innerhalb der ethnisch mongolischen Bevölkerung hinterlassen hätten, die bis heute fortwirke. Im Jahr 1981 habe es eine Studentenbewegung gegeben, die von den Behörden unterdrückt wurde, woraufhin viele der AktivistInnen in Länder wie Deutschland, USA und Japan emigriert seien. (Professor an einer japanischen Universität, 23. Dezember 2020)

Eine Schlüsselfigur für Bewegungen zur Förderung der mongolischen Sprache, Kultur und Identität sei der Intellektuelle und Buchhändler Hada gewesen. Dieser war Mitbegründer der in den 1990er Jahren entstandenen „Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance“, die die Unabhängigkeit der Inneren Mongolei von China und einen Anschluss an den Staat Mongolei angestrebt habe (CBS, 6. März 2013). Im Jahr 1995 gingen die Behörden hart gegen die Allianz vor und verhafteten Hada. Im Folgejahr wurde Hada wegen Separatismus, konspirativer Tätigkeit zum Zweck des Regierungsumsturzes und Spionage verurteilt. (CBS, 6. März 2013)

Wie das Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre (SMHIRC) im August 2020 berichtet, hätten Anführer von innermongolischen Organisationen, die für die Unabhängigkeit der Region eintreten würden, sich hinter die jüngste Opposition gegen die neue Bildungspolitik gestellt. So habe Hada, der sich nach seiner Haft nach wie vor in Hohhot in Hausarrest befinde, erklärt, dass die BewohnerInnen der Region keine andere Wahl hätten, als für die volle Unabhängigkeit der Region zu kämpfen. (SMHRIC, 20. August 2020)

Zugleich gebe es in der Region zahlreiche Gruppierungen, die sich für die mongolische Kultur einsetzen würden, jedoch nicht offen politisch seien. (Professor an einer japanischen Universität, 23. Dezember 2020)

Ein Wissenschaftler an einer europäischen Universität, der sich mit China beschäftigt, schrieb, dass ihm keine „organisierten“ Gruppierungen bekannt seien, die sich für die Rechte von MongolInnen einsetzen würden. Dies sei auch nicht überraschend, zumal legale Organisationen, die sich für die Förderung der ethnischen Rechte von MongolInnen einsetzen würden, ihre Aktivitäten in dieser Hinsicht auch offen ausüben müssten, jedoch der chinesische Staat keine parteifremden bzw. nichtstaatlichen Organisationen mit mehr als drei Mitgliedern dulde und solche Aktivitäten nicht erlaube. Bei etwaigen im Untergrund operierenden Organisationen sei die Sachlage eine ganz andere. (Wissenschaftler an einer europäischen Universität, 21. Dezember 2020)

Ein Professor an einer japanischen Universität erklärte in einem telefonischen Interview am 23. Dezember 2020, dass er von Gruppierungen mit den Bezeichnungen „Bewegung für die Rettung des mongolischen Gebietes“ und „Mongolische Einheit“ bereits gehört habe. Sie würden wahrscheinlich auch existieren, jedoch nach außen hin nicht in Erscheinung treten, weshalb er nichts Näheres über sie wisse. Ideologisch gehe es Gruppierungen wie der „Bewegung für die Rettung des mongolischen Gebietes“, die sich auf Territorien beziehen würden, nicht um Land als solches, sondern um den Schutz der Steppen und traditionellen Weidegründe vor den Aktivitäten chinesischer Firmen und des chinesischen Staates und deren Umwelteinflüssen. Die Gruppierung „Chamag Mongol“ sei als Exilgruppe in Ländern wie den USA, Japan, Schweden und Tschechien präsent, verfüge jedoch auch über einzelne Mitglieder in der Inneren Mongolei. Die Anzahl der Mitglieder in der Inneren Mongolei sei ihm nicht bekannt, so der Professor, zumal Informationen zu Mitgliederzahlen äußerst sensibel seien und von den Gruppen nicht nach außen bekanntgegeben würden. Chamag Mongol trete jedenfalls für die Vereinigung des mongolischen Volkes ein und setze sich für Menschenrechte und ethnische Rechte ein. (Professor an einer japanischen Universität, 23. Dezember 2020)

Es konnten keine weiteren Informationen zu Gruppierungen mit den Bezeichnungen „Bewegung für die Rettung des mongolischen Gebietes“, „Mongolische Einheit“, „Die Gesamte Mongolei“, „Gesamtmongolei" (Chamag Mongol) gefunden werden.

Es konnten keine weiteren Informationen über organisierte Gruppierungen gefunden werden, die sich für die Rechte der mongolischen Volksgruppe einsetzen.

Informationen zu Einzelpersonen und mutmaßlich spontan entstehenden Gruppierungen, die sich für sprachliche bzw. kulturelle Rechte oder die Weiderechte von ethnischen MongolInnen einsetzen, entnehmen Sie bitte dem Abschnitt 1 dieser Anfragebeantwortung.

3) Friedliche Formen des Widerstandes (Konsequenzen)

Informationen zu diesem Thema finden Sie auch in Abschnitt 1 dieser Anfragebeantwortung im Zusammenhang mit Demonstrationen, Boykotten und Streiks usw. gegen die neue Bildungsreform sowie im Zusammenhang mit Demonstrationen und Protestaktionen von ViehhalterInnen.

Laut einem Artikel von CBS aus dem Jahr 2013 gebe es in der Inneren Mongolei eine neue Generation von AktivistInnen, die – im Unterschied etwa zu Hada – begonnen habe, sich innerhalb der bestehenden chinesischen Rechtsordnung für die Rechte ethnischer MongolInnen einzusetzen. Ihre Proteste seien gewaltlos und sie würden nur selten in der Öffentlichkeit von territorialer Unabhängigkeit oder politischen Rechten sprechen (CBS, 6. März 2013)

Ein Artikel der in New York ansässigen innermongolischen Exilorganisation Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre (SMHRIC) vom August 2020 informiert über eine Reihe von friedlichen Formen der Opposition gegen die neue Bildungspolitik. So wird berichtet, dass sich viele Eltern für Hausunterricht aussprechen würden. Pensionierte LehrerInnen würden in allen Gegenständen kostenlosen Unterricht in mongolischer Sprache anbieten. Andere Personen würden Schüler, Lehrende, Eltern und gewöhnliche mongolische ViehhalterInnen zusammenbringen, um zeitgleiche Demonstrationen in den größeren Städten der Inneren Mongolei zu veranstalten. Es gebe Videos, die zeigen würden, wie ViehhalterInnen und SchülerInnen auf Kundgebungen ein mongolisches Volkslied singen. Auch würden SängerInnen und MusikerInnen Kundgebungen zum Erhalt der mongolischen Muttersprache bzw. gegen die neue Bildungspolitik abhalten. JuristInnen und RechtsanwältInnen würden Ratschläge rund um den Schutz der Rechte ethnischer Mongolen sowie im Hinblick auf mögliche Klagen, die unter anderem gegen die Unterrichtsbehörden angestrengt würden, erteilen. Auf dem Messaging-Dienst WeChat und dem Videoportal TikTok würden Videos, Audioaufnahmen und Texte zu Gruppenprotesten, Kundgebungen, Unterschriftenaktion wie auch Solo-Protestaktionen verbreitet. Zudem würden Trickfilme und kurze Videoclips veröffentlicht, die zur Solidarität aufrufen würden. (SMHIRC, 29. August 2020)

Vor dem Hintergrund der Widerstandsaktionen gegen die Bildungsreform wird berichtet, dass prominente AktivistInnen wie der Menschenrechtsanwalt Hu Baolong, der sich aus Protest gegen die bildungspolitischen Maßnahmen geweigert habe, sein Kind zur Schule zu schicken, und die Aktivistin Yang Jindulima, die in der Vergangenheit Proteste von ViehhalterInnen organisiert habe (RFA, 14. September 2020), festgenommen wurden und weiterhin in Haft ohne Kontakt zur Außenwelt gehalten würden – auch nachdem viele der insgesamt etwa 10.000 Personen, die seit Beginn der Kampagne des zivilen Ungehorsams gegen die Bildungsmaßnahmen festgenommen worden seien, wieder freigelassen wurden. (RFA, 1. Dezember 2020). Hu Baolong wurde im Oktober 2020 wegen mutmaßlicher „Weitergabe von Staatsgeheimnissen an das Ausland“ offiziell verhaftet. Dieser Vorwurf sei jedoch nach Angaben eines Bekannten unbegründet. (RFA, 7. Oktober 2020)

Darüber hinaus wurde im April 2019 über ein Gerichtsverfahren gegen den ethnisch mongolischen Historiker und Schriftstellers Lhamjab A. Borjigin berichtet, der unter anderem ein Buch über die während der Kulturrevolution begangenen Gewalttaten an ethnischen MongolInnen geschrieben hat (RFA, 12. April 2019). Weiters wurde im selben Monat über die Festnahme (Strafhaft) des mongolischsprachigen Schriftstellers O. Sechenbaatar (RFA, 16. April 2019) und die Festnahme (und Strafhaft) des Aktivisten Tsogjil berichtet (RFA, 22. April 2019). Lhamjab A. Borjigin wurde in weiterer Folge im September 2019 wegen Separatismus und „Sabotierens der Nationalen Einheit“ zu einer einjährigen Haftstrafe auf Bewährung verurteilt. (RFA, 16. September 2019)

4) Gewaltsame Formen des Widerstandes (Gruppierungen)

Es konnten vereinzelte Berichte über gewaltsame Ausschreitungen im Zuge von Protesten gefunden werden, jedoch keine Hinweise auf organisierten gewaltsamen Widerstand.

Wie das BAMF schreibt, hätten die Protestkundgebungen gegen die neue Bildungspolitik zum Teil zu Auseinandersetzungen mit der Polizei geführt (BAMF, 7. September 2020, S. 3). Ein Artikel von RFA vom Juli 2020 erwähnt, dass das SMHRIC ein Video von Ausschreitungen bei einer Demonstration vor einem Regierungsgebäude in der Stadt Lindong veröffentlicht habe, bei der mehr als 300 Personen gegen den Verlust von Weidegründen protestiert hätten. (RFA, 22. Juli 2020)

Ein Professor an einer japanischen Universität erklärte in einem telefonischen Interview vom 23. Dezember 2020, dass es keine Gruppierungen in der Inneren Mongolei gebe, die für gewaltsame Formen des Widerstands bekannt seien. (Professor an einer japanischen Universität, 23. Dezember 2020)

[Textpassage entfernt]

5) Gebiete, in denen Widerstand konzentriert stattfindet

Laut einem Professor an einer japanischen Universität finde Widerstand fast überall in der Inneren Mongolei statt. Im östlichen Teil der Region, der früher von Japan kontrolliert wurde, sei das allgemeine Bildungsniveau höher, weshalb es dort zu starken staatlichen Repressionen komme. Der westliche Teil, der von der Weidewirtschaft geprägt sei, sei Ziel von Maßnahmen zur Unterdrückung dieser traditionellen Lebensweise. Beides würde Widerstand gegen die Zentralmacht hervorrufen. (Professor an einer japanischen Universität, 23. Dezember 2020)

Zu dieser Frage konnten keine weiteren Informationen gefunden werden. 

Quellen: (Zugriff auf alle Quellen am 23. Dezember 2020)

·      AFP – Agence France-Presse: Thousands of ethnic Mongolians protest switch to Mandarin schooling, 1. September 2020 (veröffentlicht von RFI)
https://www.rfi.fr/en/wires/20200901-thousands-ethnic-mongolians-protest-switch-mandarin-schooling

·      AI – Amnesty International: Peaceful protesters targeted in Inner Mongolia; First UA: 140/20 [ASA 17/3086/2020], 21. September 2020 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2037856/ASA1730862020ENGLISH.pdf

·      Atwood, Christopher P.: Bilingual Education in Inner Mongolia: An Explainer, 30 August 2020
https://madeinchinajournal.com/2020/08/30/bilingual-education-in-inner-mongolia-an-explainer/

·      Baioud, Gegentuul: Will education reform wipe out Mongolian language and culture?, 30. August 2020
https://www.languageonthemove.com/will-education-reform-wipe-out-mongolian-language-and-culture/

·      BAMF – Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge: Briefing Notes, 7. September 2020 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2037642/briefingnotes-kw37-2020.pdf

·      BBC News: Rare rallies in China over Mongolian language curb, 1. September 2020
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-53981100

·      Bulag, Uradyn E.: Inner Mongolia: The Dialectics of Colonization and Ethnicity Building. In: Morris Rossabi (Hg.): Governing China's Multiethnic Frontiers, 2004, S. 84-116

·      CBS – Why China is crushing a Mongolian intellectual, 6. März 2013
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-china-is-crushing-a-mongolian-intellectual/

·      CECC – Congressional-Executive Commission on China: Annual Report 2019, 18. November 2019 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2025008/CECC+2019+Annual+Report.pdf

·      CNN: How China's new language policy sparked rare backlash in Inner Mongolia, 5. September 2020
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/05/asia/china-inner-mongolia-intl-hnk-dst/index.html

·      Economist: Herding mentality; Inner Mongolia has become China’s model of assimilation, 1. Juni 2017
https://www.economist.com/china/2017/06/01/inner-mongolia-has-become-chinas-model-of-assimilation

·      Encyclopaedia Britannica: Inner Mongolia, Stand 20. November 2019
https://www.britannica.com/place/Inner-Mongolia

·      HRW – Human Rights Watch: China: Mongolian Mother-Tongue Classes Curtailed, 4. September 2020 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2037116.html

·      JF – Jamestown Foundation: The CCP Extends Its Policies of Forced Ethnic Assimilation to Inner Mongolia, 28. September 2020
https://jamestown.org/program/the-ccp-extends-its-policies-of-forced-ethnic-assimilation-to-inner-mongolia/

·      Nishinippon Shimbun: 内モンゴル、奪われる言葉と誇り…「漢語教育強化」当局の弾圧厳しく, 26. Oktober 2020
https://www.nishinippon.co.jp/item/n/658010/

·      Professor an einer japanischen Universität, 23. Dezember 2020

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: China Jails Dozens of Ethnic Mongolian Herders Who Blockaded Highway Construction, 25. Jänner 2018
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/mongolia-herders-01252018135138.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: China Tries Ethnic Mongolian Historian For Genocide Book, in Secret, 12. April 2019
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/mongolia-trial-04122019153038.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Chinese Police Hold Another Ethnic Mongolian Writer Over Protest, 16. April 2019
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/chinese-police-hold-another-ethnic-mongolian-writer-04162019113037.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Third Ethnic Mongolian Writer Held in China's Inner Mongolia, 22. April 2019
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/writer-04222019132439.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Two More Ethnic Mongolians Jailed in China, WeChat Groups Deleted, 26. April 2019
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/two-more-ethnic-mongolians-jailed-04262019115951.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Ethnic Mongolian Author Sentenced, Placed Under 'Community Correction' Order, 16. September 2019
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/author-09162019110051.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Authorities Cancel Mongolian-Medium Classes in Inner Mongolia's Tongliao City, 24. Juni 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/classes-06242020113853.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Police Block Ethnic Mongolian Protesters Outside Government Offices, 22. Juli 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/block-07222020131007.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Ethnic Mongolian Herders Protest Government-Backed Pig Farms in Durbed, 14. August 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/farms-08142020090634.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Ethnic Mongolian Parents Strike Over China's New Language Policy in Schools, 28. August 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/mongolia-language-08282020105851.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Mass Protests Erupt as China Moves to End Mongolian-Medium Teaching in Schools, 31. August 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/schools-08312020093412.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Mongolian Schools Stay Empty Amid Ongoing Protests as Chinese Police Seek 'Troublemakers', 3. September 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/schools-09032020102203.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Ethnic Mongolian Official Dead by Suicide Amid Language Protests, 4. September 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/mongolia-language-09042020103032.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: China Detains Hundreds for 'Rumor-Mongering' Amid Mongolian Schools Protests, 7. September 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/mongolia-language-09072020161109.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Nine Die, Thousands Arrested Amid Crackdown on Protesting Mongolians: Group, 14. September 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/crackdown-09142020184034.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Police in Inner Mongolia Arrest Prominent Rights Lawyer on Spying Charges, 7. Oktober 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/mongolia-lawyer-10072020104554.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Thousands Held in Inner Mongolia As Crackdown on Language Protesters Continues, 20. Oktober 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/crackdown-10202020092816.html

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: China Recruits Mandarin Teachers Amid Ongoing Crackdown in Inner Mongolia, 1. Dezember 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/recruits-12012020105355.html

·      SMHRIC – Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre: China's finishing touch on cultural genocide in Southern Mongolia, 20. August 2020
http://www.smhric.org/news_671.htm

·      SMHRIC – Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre: Massive civil disobedience breaks out, tension rises, 29. August 2020
http://www.smhric.org/news_673.htm

·      Staatliches Amt für Statistik der Volksrepublik China: 内蒙古自治区2010年第六次全国人口普查主要数据公, 28. Februar 2012
http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/tjgb/rkpcgb/dfrkpcgb/201202/t20120228_30397.html

·      Verfassung der Volksrepublik China, 4. Dezember 1982, Fassung vom 11. März 2018 (englische Übersetzung)
http://english.www.gov.cn/archive/lawsregulations/201911/20/content_WS5ed8856ec6d0b3f0e9499913.html

·      Wissenschaftler an einer europäischen Universität: E-Mail-Auskunft, 21. Dezember 2020

 

Anhang: Quellenbeschreibungen und Informationen aus ausgewählten Quellen

Agence France-Presse (AFP) ist eine französische Nachrichtenagentur.

·      AFP – Agence France-Presse: Thousands of ethnic Mongolians protest switch to Mandarin schooling, 1. September 2020 (veröffentlicht von RFI)
https://www.rfi.fr/en/wires/20200901-thousands-ethnic-mongolians-protest-switch-mandarin-schooling

„‘Almost every Mongolian in Inner Mongolia is opposed to the revised curriculum,’ a 32-year-old herder from Xilingol League, who gave his surname as Hu, told AFP, warning Mongolian children were losing fluency in their mother tongue. [...]

Mass demonstrations, with hundreds of parents and students facing off against police, have erupted across the region, according to video clips provided by residents to AFP, while thousands of students have boycotted classes.

‘There are at least tens of thousands of people protesting across Inner Mongolia,’ Baatar, a 27-year old herder in Hinggan League who refused to give his real name out of security concerns, told AFP.

‘Many parents are protesting outside schools, some with a few thousand parents outside, as well as ordinary people protesting on the street.’” (AFP, 1. September 2020)

Amnesty International ist eine internationale Menschenrechtsorganisation mit Sitz in London.

·      AI – Amnesty International: Peaceful protesters targeted in Inner Mongolia; First UA: 140/20 [ASA 17/3086/2020], 21. September 2020 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2037856/ASA1730862020ENGLISH.pdf

„At least 23 individuals have reportedly been arrested for ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’ for participating in, or sharing information about, peaceful protests against a recent ‘bilingual education policy’ in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. On 2 September 2020, police in the Horqin District of Tongliao City published the names of 129 individuals suspected of ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’. The authorities have yet to release information about the whereabouts of arrested individuals. [...]

Protests arose in September 2020 in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Inner Mongolia) in response to a new ‘bilingual education policy’ that would gradually change the teaching medium of several different classes from Mongolian to Mandarin Chinese throughout the nine years of compulsory schooling. The new policy started with the ‘language and literature’ curriculum on 1 September 2020. If the proposed plan goes according to schedule, from 2022 students in Inner Mongolia will be taking classes in language, history and politics solely in Chinese on the basis of the Chinese state-compiled textbooks. Protesters are worried that the new policy will eventually diminish Mongolian culture and language in Inner Mongolia. [...]

Numerous media reports say that several local government officials, teachers and Communist Party members were punished for failing to carry out the new ‘bilingual education policy’ in Inner Mongolia. On 16 September, the local authorities in Xilinhot notified students and their parents that they would be punished if students failed to complete their school enrolment on time, including being deprived of government subsidies and withdrawal of bank loans.“ (AI, 21 September 2020, S. 1-2)

Christopher P. Atwood ist Professor für chinesische und mongolische Ethnohistorie an der University of Pennsylvania (USA).

·      Atwood, Christopher P.: Bilingual Education in Inner Mongolia: An Explainer, 30 August 2020
https://madeinchinajournal.com/2020/08/30/bilingual-education-in-inner-mongolia-an-explainer/

„This summer, the Inner Mongolian Educational Department announced a plan to make changes to education throughout the nine years of compulsory schooling in Inner Mongolia. The plan is to begin transitioning to the state-compiled textbooks for ‘language and literature’, ‘morality and law (politics)’, and ‘history’ classes. The key point is that these classes will be taught in the national common language - Mandarin Chinese. This policy will be formally implemented from the beginning of school, this 1 September, starting with ‘language and literature’ in first and seventh grade. Next year, it will be extended to ‘morality and law’ and then to ‘history’ in 2022. So from 2022, if all goes according to plan, all students in Inner Mongolia will be taking all three of these classes solely in Chinese, on the basis of the Chinese state-compiled textbooks. Previously, in many schools in Inner Mongolia, all of these subjects were taught in Mongolian through high school. [...]

Even strong opponents of the proposed change recognise that in ethnic Mongol schools in Inner Mongolia, Mongolian will continue to be taught as a subject - although critics say that this amounts to treating the Mongolian mother tongue ‘like a foreign language’. Nor has there been any moves to ban the use of Mongolian language in public or in schools outside of class. Mongolian language radio and TV are continuing, and given their importance in projecting a favourable image of China to independent Mongolia are unlikely to be cut back. [...]

Policy documents mention that the unified national curriculum in the three subjects was first rolled out in September 2017. It was first implemented in Xinjiang in 2017 and then in Tibet in 2018. Reports indicate that implementation of this policy was attempted in a Mongol banner (county) of Shiliin Gol League also in 2018, but was dropped in the face of quiet resistance. [...]

As far as this round in Inner Mongolia goes, this policy appears to have first been disclosed around June 2020 in Tongliao municipality - an area in southeastern Inner Mongolia with a large ethnic Mongol population - in connection with a visit on 4 June by a delegation led by Ge Weiwei, the deputy section chief of the Ethnic Education Section of the Ministry of Education, accompanied by a ‘researcher’ from his department, Chogbayar. During that visit he emphasised deficiencies in the command of the ‘common national language’ and the need to improve it. By late June, reports emerged that teachers in the Tongliao municipality would have to begin the first of the three subjects (language and literature) in Chinese in September. By Monday, 6 July, the first petitions against this policy began to circulate on WeChat, at this point speaking only of Tongliao. On 17 August, the extension of this policy to all of Inner Mongolia was first announced by the Regional Department of Education in closed meetings, and all subordinate administrative units were ordered to begin planning implementation from 18 August. On 23 August, posts by Mongols related to the topic of ‘Bilingual Education’ began to be systematically removed from social media in Inner Mongolia. [...]

[M]any members of the opposition have argued that the new policy is surreptitiously implementing this ‘Second Generation Ethnic Policy’. The ‘Second Generation Ethnic Policy’ has been advocated by figures like Professor Hu Angang of the Centre for China Studies, a think tank affiliated with Tsinghua University, Hu Lianhe, an official in the United Front Department also associated with the same centre, and Anthropology Professor Ma Rong of Peking University. These thinkers claim that the Soviet-based ethnic autonomy built into China’s constitutional structure was a mistake and should be replaced by a ‘depoliticised’ ethnic policy modelled on that of the United States, where ethnic groups have individual rights to equality but no rights to territorial autonomy and no state-supported educational or cultural maintenance. This would involve changing autonomous areas, prefectures, and counties in China into ordinary territorial units, and involve a transition to purely Chinese language education. During his trip to Tongliao, Gu Weiwei referred positively to these ideas. [...]

So far, the resistance is public at the grassroots, but anonymous in leadership, if any, and entirely rooted in Inner Mongolia. It is hard to believe that this degree of opposition is possible without significant leadership, probably from ethnic Mongol cadres within the Inner Mongolian government as well as the teachers themselves. But all proponents on social media picture themselves simply as ordinary teachers, students, and parents.

From the beginning, information about this new policy and resistance to it has travelled along social, local place, and kinship networks to those outside Inner Mongolia. In these networks, Mongols in Japan have played a crucial role. [...] A number of Inner Mongolian scholars such as Yang Haiying have built successful careers in Japan and they have become key figures in petitioning and spreading knowledge about these movements. Similarly, the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre has played that role in the United States. Mongols abroad often package news of resistance in Inner Mongolia with a much more radical edge, seeing the new policy as the culmination of a long Chinese programme of assimilation. It is unclear to what degree this perspective is shared inside Inner Mongolia. [...]

Mongolian nationalism has existed in Inner Mongolia and was a strong force from the mid-1920s through the 1940s, and has existed in covert forms through the present. However, armed resistance by anti-Communist Mongols was mostly crushed by 1952 and flight of refugees to independent Mongolia has not been common. There have not been any massive and highly visible instances of interethnic conflict like the 2008 unrest in Lhasa or the 2009 Shaoguan lynching and the demonstrations in response in Ürümchi.

From its origins in the late nineteenth century, Mongolian nationalism has been strongly secular. This secularism and common participation in the Moscow-led world Communist movement were the grounds on which Mongolian nationalist movements based in the eastern part of the region were able to forge a strong alliance with the Chinese Communist Party. This alliance was deeply damaged during the Cultural Revolution, when Mongols suffered from a massive and brutal ethnically directed purge, the so-called ‘Nei Ren Dang’ (内人党) case, based on the allegation that a secret Mongol nationalist party still existed and was controlling Inner Mongolian policy. [...]

Despite these grievances, however, the focus of Mongolian nationalism on secular education, an area of cultural life controlled and funded by the state, has made the partnership of educated Mongols with the Party-state relatively more harmonious compared to Tibet or Xinjiang. [...]

There are certainly nationalists in Inner Mongolia who think outside the Chinese constitutional framework. But Mongol nationalists are far less openly radical and the repressive powers of the Chinese state are far less in evidence in Inner Mongolia than in Tibet or Xinjiang - a fact often lamented by Mongol nationalists outside China. Yet when dissidence has emerged, such as in the 2011 wave of protests over a protesting herder being killed by a truck driver for a coal mine, the ‘carrot’ brandished along with the ‘stick’ of repression has usually taken the form of support for Mongolian cultural and educational institutions.

More importantly, even among those adjusted to the system, there is a strong sense of a Mongol ethnonational community with corporate interests that can be furthered by the Chinese state - or betrayed. The ‘model minority’ positioning that Mongols often embrace, of loyalty freely given to the Chinese state, has at the same time the possibility of turning into claims of Chinese bad faith. Claims by activists that the new policy endangers ‘ethnic unity’ are an implicit threat that such sentiments of betrayal could be reengaged today in response.” (Atwood, 30. August 2020)

·      BAMF – Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge: Briefing Notes, 7. September 2020 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2037642/briefingnotes-kw37-2020.pdf

„Kurz vor Beginn des neuen Schuljahres Anfang September 2020 wiesen die Schulbehörden in der Autonomen Region Innere Mongolei (IMAR) die Lehrer von Grund- und Mittelschulen an, künftig Han-Chinesisch als Unterrichtssprache zu verwenden. Betroffen sind Schulen, die bislang Mongolisch als Haupt-Unterrichtssprache verwendeten. Im neuen Schuljahr soll demnach das Fach Sprache und Literatur nur noch auf Han-Chinesisch unterrichtet werden, in den folgenden beiden Schuljahren kommen die Fächer Politik bzw. Geschichte hinzu. Die übrigen Fächer können weiter in Mongolisch unterrichtet werden. Die Regelung trifft in der mongolischen Bevölkerung auf Widerstand. Tausende mongolische Schüler folgten Aufrufen, ab dem 01.09.20 den Unterricht zu boykottieren. In Hohhot, Tongliao, Ordos und weiteren Orten kam es zu Protestkundgebungen, die teils zu gewaltsamen Auseinandersetzungen mit Sicherheitskräften führten. Eine unbekannte Zahl an Personen wurde festgenommen. Die Behörden fahnden nach hunderten Organisatoren von und Teilnehmern an Protesten. Bainu, eine beliebte mongolischsprachige soziale Medienplattform, wurde geschlossen. Etwa 17 % (4,2 Millionen) der Bevölkerung der Inneren Mongolei sind Mongolen. Kritiker sehen die Maßnahme als Teil einer zentralchinesischen Politik zur Assimilation der mongolischen Minderheit an die Han-Chinesische Mehrheit. Ähnliche Regelungen wirken bereits in Tibet und Xinjiang.“ (BAMF, 7. September 2020, S. 3)

Gegentuul Baioud ist eine Sprachwissenschaftlerin, die sich vorwiegend mit linguistischen und kulturellen Fragen beschäftigt, die MongolInnen in der VR China betreffen.

·      Baioud, Gegentuul: Will education reform wipe out Mongolian language and culture?, 30. August 2020
https://www.languageonthemove.com/will-education-reform-wipe-out-mongolian-language-and-culture/

„In brief, there are two different modes of bilingual education in Inner Mongolia. The established mode of bilingual education over the last 73 years has been: school subjects taught in Mongolian; plus a Chinese language and literacy course from Grade 2; plus an English language and literacy course from Grade 3. What worries Mongols is the new mode of bilingual education, which involves the gradual replacement of Mongolian-medium teaching with Chinese-medium teaching across all school subjects. In the new mode, this Chinese-medium education will be complemented by a Mongolian language and literature course. This is dubbed a second type of bilingual education but it is, in essence, monolingual, Chinese-medium education. [...]

The Mongolian language is already fragile and has entered the early stages of endangerment. In today’s Inner Mongolia, less than 40% of Mongol parents choose Mongolian bilingual schools for their children; the rest enroll their children in mainstream Chinese schools. In such circumstances, this reform pushes already emaciated Mongolian language and culture further towards the abyss of extinction within the Chinese borders. [...] [T]he production of large numbers of unemployed, poor, institutionally discriminated and marginalized minorities including Mongols in coming decades will plague China with many unforeseen sociopolitical and economic problems. This dire consequence has obviously been brushed aside by the group of eminent Chinese scholars Ma Rong, Hu Angang and Hu Lianhe, who boldly proposed a Second Generation of Ethnic Policies (第二代民族政策) to solve ethnic ‘problems’ by aggressively assimilating minorities (Leibold 2012). They envisioned the ‘melting pot’ (大熔炉) formula of the West, in particular USA, as the ultimate ‘solution’ to the ethnic ‘problems’ of China, even though China’s native minorities are drastically different from diasporic immigrants in America (for further details, see Elliott 2015).” (Baioud, 30. August 2020)

BBC News ist der Nachrichtensender der britischen öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalt British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

·      BBC News: Rare rallies in China over Mongolian language curb, 1. September 2020
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-53981100

„Authorities have warned people in Inner Mongolia against speaking out on social media. Posts on the subject on Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform, have been removed. But concerns over the directive are still running high with some parents keeping students at home. On Tuesday staff at a school in Naiman county told the BBC that only around 40 students had registered for the semester in place of the usual 1,000. Some subsequently changed their minds, and only some 10 remained. They said teachers had been sent out for family visits to convince parents to send their children back to school. But parents, they said, were worried the language change would harm the future of their own language.” (BBC News, 1. September 2020)

CBS News ist die für Nachrichtensendungen zuständige Abteilung des zum US-amerikanischen Medienkonzern CBS Corporation gehörenden Rundfunkunternehmens Columbia Broadcasting System.

·      CBS News – Why China is crushing a Mongolian intellectual, 6. März 2013
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-china-is-crushing-a-mongolian-intellectual/

„As an intellectual and bookstore owner, Hada was an instrumental figure in movements promoting the Mongolian language, culture, and identity. He wrote extensively on political theory and philosophy in Mongolian throughout the 1980s, and in the 1990s he co-founded the Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance, which called for independence from China and eventual unification with the nation of Mongolia, which borders China to the north.

Chinese officials cracked down on the alliance in 1995, arresting Hada and confiscating all documents relating to the group. Two weeks later, hundreds of students gathered outside Hada's bookstore, waving signs of Genghis Khan and making speeches in protest. Hada was denied a lawyer and was convicted in 1996 of ‘splitting the country,’ conspiring to overthrow the government, and espionage.

Seventeen years later, Hada continues to be held by officials in detention because, activists say, he refuses to confess he was guilty of the crimes of which he was already convicted. [...]

Why is China so driven to crush the spirit of one Mongolian intellectual? In a word: territory. Compared to Tibetans and Uighurs -- Turkic people in China's northwest -- the aspirations for freedom among China's Mongolians garner little attention in America. But they are no less intense. [...] Tensions came to a head in 2011, when protests against government policies erupted around Inner Mongolia.

‘To the Chinese government this was a big surprise, because they always thought Mongolians would never resist,’ says Enghebatu Togochog, director of the US-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center.

‘To the outside world, China always uses Mongolia to advertise their ethnic policies -- they say it's much better than Xinjiang and Tibet. But that's not true.’ [...]

Yet there may be hope in gradual change. While Hada remains in detention, a new generation has begun to assert Mongolians' rights within the existing Chinese legal framework. They have remained non-violent in their protests, and rarely mention independence or political rights in public.“ (CBS, 6. März 2013)

Die Encyclopaedia Britannica ist eine in den USA herausgegebene englischsprachige Enzyklopädie.

·      Encyclopaedia Britannica: Inner Mongolia, Stand 20. November 2019
https://www.britannica.com/place/Inner-Mongolia

„Inner Mongolia, in full Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, official Chinese Nei Mongol Zizhiqu, Pinyin Nei Menggu Zizhiqu, Wade-Giles romanization Nei-meng-ku Tzu-chih-ch’ü, autonomous region of China. It is a vast territory that stretches in a great crescent for some 1,490 miles (2,400 km) across northern China. It is bordered to the north by Mongolia (formerly Outer Mongolia) and Russia; to the east by the Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning; to the south by the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, and Shaanxi and the Hui Autonomous Region of Ningxia; and to the west by the province of Gansu.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 20. November 2019)

·      Verfassung der Volksrepublik China, 4. Dezember 1982, Fassung vom 11. März 2018 (englische Übersetzung)
http://english.www.gov.cn/archive/lawsregulations/201911/20/content_WS5ed8856ec6d0b3f0e9499913.html

„Article 4 All ethnic groups of the People’s Republic of China are equal. The state shall protect the lawful rights and interests of all ethnic minorities and uphold and promote relations of equality, unity, mutual assistance and harmony among all ethnic groups. Discrimination against and oppression of any ethnic group are prohibited; any act that undermines the unity of ethnic groups or creates divisions among them is prohibited.

The state shall, in light of the characteristics and needs of all ethnic minorities, assist all ethnic minority areas in accelerating their economic and cultural development.

All areas inhabited by ethnic minorities shall practice regional autonomy, establish autonomous organs, and exercise the power to self-govern. All ethnic autonomous areas are inseparable parts of the People’s Republic of China.

All ethnic groups shall have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages and to preserve or reform their own traditions and customs.” (Verfassung der Volksrepublik China, 4. Dezember 1982, Fassung vom 11. März 2018, Artikel 4)

Die Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) ist eine vom US-Kongress eingerichtete staatliche Einrichtung, deren Aufgabe die Beobachtung der Menschenrechtslage und der Rechtsstaatlichkeit in der Volksrepublik China ist.

·      CECC – Congressional-Executive Commission on China: Annual Report 2019, 18. November 2019 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2025008/CECC+2019+Annual+Report.pdf

„During this reporting year, authorities detained Mongol herders who protested or petitioned the government over the loss of traditional grazing lands. As in past reporting years, authorities detained some of the Mongol herders who peacefully protested. Representative examples of protests and petitioning by Mongol herders included the following:

• In April 2019, authorities administratively detained three Mongol herders who had traveled to Hohhot municipality, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR), to petition authorities over access to grazing lands. Authorities escorted herders Haaserdun, Tegshibayla, and Oobuuren back to their hometown in Zaruud Banner, Tongliao municipality, IMAR, and ordered them to serve eight days’ administrative detention for ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble.’

• On April 22, 2019, more than 100 Mongol herders in Urad (Wulate) Middle Banner, Bayannur (Bayannao’er) municipality, IMAR, protested in front of local government offices to demand a meeting with IMAR chairwoman Bu Xiaolin, who was visiting the area. Authorities detained around a dozen herders, including Bai Xiurong and Altanbagan, each of whom security personnel ordered to serve 14 days’ administrative detention for unknown charges. On the evening of April 22 and the early morning of April 23, some of the herders protested in front of a local government building to call for the release of Bai, Altanbagan, and other herders still detained.” (CECC, 18. November 2019, S. 119)

„Authorities in the IMAR tried a Mongol historian on charges related to a book he wrote and detained two Mongol writers who had advocated on behalf of herders’ rights:

• Lhamjab Borjigin. On April 4, 2019, the Xilingol (Xilinguole) League Intermediate People’s Court in Xilinhot city, Xilingol League, tried 75-year-old Mongol historian Lhamjab Borjigin on the charges of ‘ethnic separatism,’ ‘sabotaging national unity,’ and ‘illegal publication and illegal distribution.’ A Xilinhot official previously linked the first two charges to a book Borjigin self-published in 2006 about Mongols’ experiences during the Cultural Revolution.

• O. Sechenbaatar. On April 12, 2019, security personnel in Heshigten (Keshenketeng) Banner, Chifeng municipality, detained 68-year-old Mongol writer O. Sechenbaatar on suspicion of ‘‘obstructing official business,’’ after he participated in a nearby protest involving more than 200 herders over government plans to restrict local herders’ access to traditional grazing lands. Sechenbaatar has authored numerous books and other materials on Mongolian culture, and he has hosted group discussions about Mongol herders’ concerns on the messaging service WeChat. On April 16, 2019, more than 100 herders protested in front of a government building in Heshigten to call for O. Sechenbaatar’s release from detention.

• Tsogjil. On April 16, 2019, security personnel in Hohhot took into custody 40-year-old Mongol writer Tsogjil, and authorities subsequently took him back to his hometown in Heshigten Banner, and detained him on April 17 on the charge of ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble.’ According to a U.S.-based Mongol rights organization, prior to his detention, Tsogjil had advocated for Mongols’ language and cultural rights, as well as their access to natural resources, including by hosting WeChat discussion groups. Tsogjil had traveled to Hohhot to submit a complaint to regional government officials regarding Mongol herders’ rights. (CECC, 18. November 2019, S. 120)

„In April 2019, over 200 residents in Heshigten (Keshenketeng) Banner, Chifeng municipality, IMAR, protested in front of a government office after authorities imposed a grazing ban on local herding communities.” (CECC, 18. November 2019, S. 193–194)

CNN ist ein US-Nachrichtensender mit Sitz in Atlanta.

·      CNN: How China's new language policy sparked rare backlash in Inner Mongolia, 5. September 2020
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/05/asia/china-inner-mongolia-intl-hnk-dst/index.html

„Following decades of Han migration and intermarriage into Inner Mongolia, ethnic Mongolians have since become a minority in their own land, accounting for only about one sixth of Inner Mongolia's population of 24 million, according to the last available census data.

However, unlike autonomous regions such Tibet and Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia has largely avoided violent ethnic unrest in recent decades.

’Inner Mongolia is not against the Chinese government -- it is a relatively stable place,’ said Tala, a 26-year-old Mongolian who grew up in the region and now lives overseas.

‘But even so,’ he said. ‘We've been pushed to the brink.’

Under the surface, tensions have been running for years, especially between Han settlers and Mongolian herders, who complained their traditional grazing lands have been ruined by a coal mining boom.

That conflict was laid bare in 2011, when a Mongolian herder was struck and killed by a coal truck driven by Han Chinese. The herder, protesting against the coal mining activity, had tried to stop trucks from crossing into his traditional pastureland. His death triggered thousands of Mongolians to take to the streets -- the last time major protests broke out in the region.

Mongolian activists also lamented the loss of their pastoral tradition. Herders were moved from their homes on the prairies into new housing complexes in towns under ‘ecological migration,’ a decades-long relocation program that officials say is aimed at alleviating poverty and easing overgrazing.

"The Mongolian way of life (has already been) wiped out by so many policies," said Enghebatu Togochog, director of the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center, a New York-based advocacy group.” (CNN, 5. September 2020)

Der Economist ist eine britische Wochenzeitung.

·      Economist: Herding mentality; Inner Mongolia has become China’s model of assimilation, 1. Juni 2017
https://www.economist.com/china/2017/06/01/inner-mongolia-has-become-chinas-model-of-assimilation

„The Chinese government has long struggled to bring the country’s borderlands under control. It took a decade for the Communist Party to subdue Yunnan in the southwest and Tibet after it came to power in 1949. In Tibet and in the far western province of Xinjiang ethnic tensions still sometimes flare into violence; both have separatist movements that have been brutally suppressed. Ethnic relations have not always been easy in Inner Mongolia either: Mongolians frequently clashed with the authorities until the early 1990s.

In recent decades, however, the province has been largely quiescent. It does not have a separatist movement - a surprise given that Mongolia, an independent, democratic country populated by 3m people of the same ethnicity, lies just to the north. Local gripes are more often expressed in economic terms than in ethnic ones. It helps that many ethnic Mongolians are visually indistinguishable from Han Chinese, says Enze Han of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. They are far more likely to marry a Han than minorities in western China. Many more youths leave the province to find work elsewhere too. [...]

Government policies suppressed Mongol identity. Han migration started in the 19th century. The native population was already in the minority by 1949; now only 20% of people in the province are Mongolian. The region suffered especially severe violence in the Cultural Revolution - up to 100,000 people died, by some reckonings. Buddhism, which was strongly rooted in Inner Mongolia, was crushed, and most temples destroyed. [...]

Teaching local children in Mandarin, a policy which the party is now pursuing with gusto in Tibet and Xinjiang, started early in Inner Mongolia too. All young Mongolians speak Mandarin - far fewer understand Mongolian. So comfortable is the party with the dominance of Mandarin that it has allowed Mongolian-language education to grow: the share of primary and middle-school pupils taught in Mongolian actually increased from 10% in 2005 to 13% in 2015.

Money has helped ethnic Mongolians come to terms with the Chinese Communist Party: GDP per person is $10,000 a year in Inner Mongolia, compared with $4,000 in Mongolia the country. Such riches are the result of a deliberate government strategy to exploit minerals, particularly coal, and build infrastructure (another measure repeated recently in western China).

The question is whether the model of assimilation and appeasement is sustainable. Economic pressures are growing. Many Mongolians feel excluded from the province’s overall prosperity. City folk, who are disproportionately Han, earn twice as much as herders. Even in rural areas, the energy-intensive and heavily polluting industries that fuelled the region’s boom largely benefit Han companies; few miners are Mongolian.

Mining companies show scant regard for grass or goats and consume lots of water. The water table has dropped by 100 metres in some places, according to Greenpeace, an NGO. New mines were curtailed in 2011, when a Han driver deliberately ran over and killed a Mongolian herder, sparking protests. The provincial government also soothed pastoralists with subsidies.

But Tsetseg, a 36-year-old herder near West Ujimqin, close to the scene of the killing, says most subsidies now exist in name only. Desertification and climate change mean there is less grass for her goats to graze on, so she increasingly has to buy corn as well. With rising feed costs and falling meat prices, her family has little hope of ever repaying the 100,000 yuan ($15,000) they owe. Tsetseg’s economic woes sometimes assume ethnic overtones. The area was awash with Han police after the protests in 2011, she says. She ‘would not agree’ to her son marrying a Han: ‘There aren’t many Mongols now. When they marry a Han we lose them: we have to keep our bloodline. [...]

The government is emboldened by the area’s tranquillity. This year it is marking Inner Mongolia’s 70th anniversary as an ‘autonomous region’ with months of ‘traditional’ sports, music and other events. Beyond government-sponsored festivities, however, there are signs of a quiet resurgence of Mongolian identity. A 20-something in West Ujimqin whose upbringing was so Chinese that he goes by his Chinese name recently started a line of clothing adorned with local Mongolian monuments and Mongolian script that he himself cannot read. Social media have helped Mongolians from different parts of the province get in touch; Mongolian-language apps, some aimed at adults wishing to learn, are helping revive the language.

Ties with the country of Mongolia have grown too. Restaurants in Hohhot advertise chefs and singers from Mongolia.” (Economist, 1. Juni 2017)

Human Rights Watch (HRW) ist eine internationale Menschenrechtsorganisation mit Sitz in New York.

·      HRW – Human Rights Watch: China's ‘Bilingual Education’ Policy in Tibet; Tibetan-Medium Schooling Under Threat, März 2020 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2025966/tibet0320_web_0.pdf

„Inner Mongolia’s 2010 Education Plan, for example, indicated that the region’s bilingual policy would focus on providing education through the medium of Mongolian language. In practice, officials there have actively encouraged Mongolian-medium teaching, as well as providing preferential access to government jobs for Mongolian-speakers.” (HRW, März 2020, S. 33)

·      HRW – Human Rights Watch: China: Mongolian Mother-Tongue Classes Curtailed, 4. September 2020 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2037116.html

„Students in Mongolian-medium schools had previously been taught in their mother tongue, alongside a daily hour of Chinese language instruction starting from the third grade. Starting this September, the education authorities will expect schools to teach three subjects in Mandarin Chinese: language and literature, ‘morality and law (politics),’ and history. Authorities may be giving priority to these three subjects because they reflect the government’s emphasis on political and ideological education. Other classes, namely mathematics, sciences, art, music, and physical education, as well as Mongolian language, will still be taught in Mongolian.

In an August 31 statement, authorities in Mongolia said that the changes, following similar steps in Xinjiang in 2017 and Tibet 2018, also apply to ethnic minority schools in Gansu, Sichuan, and six other provinces and regions. [...]

Authorities did not initially communicate the changes publicly – perhaps anticipating objections. During closed-door meetings, officials only showed teachers the headings of the central government policy, and required teachers to sign documents promising not to discuss the order.

After the policy was leaked, international media reported widespread school boycotts and various protests breaking out throughout Inner Mongolia. Videos show students shouting slogans and walking out of schools. Authorities swiftly responded with a crackdown, detaining Mongolian activists and beating protesters.

On August 23, authorities shut down Bainu, the only Mongolian-language social media site in China. Many Mongolian speakers earlier had posted complaints on Bainu about the policy change. Many posts on popular Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo and WeChat about ‘bilingual education’ were censored. Authorities also allegedly harassed and detained some Mongolians who voiced their displeasure on these platforms.” (HRW, 4. September 2020)

Die Jamestown Foundation ist eine Informationsplattform mit Sitz in Washington, D.C., die Medien- und Monitoring-Berichte veröffentlicht, um über Ereignisse und Entwicklungen in Gesellschaften zu informieren, die für die USA von strategischer oder taktischer Bedeutung sind.

·      JF – Jamestown Foundation: The CCP Extends Its Policies of Forced Ethnic Assimilation to Inner Mongolia, 28. September 2020
https://jamestown.org/program/the-ccp-extends-its-policies-of-forced-ethnic-assimilation-to-inner-mongolia/

„This policy change led to street protests—unusual in the normally stable region—in which more than one thousand people were arrested.

Hundreds of parents who refused to send their kids back to school have been detained by police. Some have been fined more than 5,000 yuan ($733 U.S. dollars), while others have been sent to ‘legal education classes’ that resemble the quasi-concentration camps in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (Apple Daily, September 16; SCMP, September 13; Human Rights Watch, September 4). Moreover, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres in the region have been given quotas to ensure that a high-enough percentage of children report to schools. The U.S.-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center claimed that nine people lost their lives during the demonstrations, including an ethnic Mongolian party cadre and a school principal who jumped to their deaths in protest against these policies (Oriental Daily News, September 14; SMHRIC.org, September 4). [...]

Methods of coerced assimilation via police-state tactics, which have been used extensively in Xinjiang and Tibet, are now also being enforced in Inner Mongolia. This is despite the fact that the most effective policy of assimilation, gradual Sinicization, has already succeeded in the autonomous region. [...] Other harsh measures already used include: the imprisonment of political dissidents; closure of anti-Beijing social media chat rooms; and even the collection of DNA from ethnic minority residents (BBC Chinese, August 29; NYT (Chinese edition), June 19).

CCP authorities are apparently also trying to change the lifestyle of Mongolians by discouraging grazing and animal husbandry, and driving the nomads to live in cities. In the summer, the IMAU [Inner Mongolia Agricultural University] legislature drafted the Autonomous Region Regulations on Grassland-Livestock Balance and Prohibitions on Herd Cultivation (自治区草畜平衡和禁牧休牧条例, Zizhiqu Cao-Xu Pingheng he Jinmu Xiumu Tiaoli), a set of regulations that would restrict animal husbandry and livestock grazing (Xinhua, August 4; Sohu.com, August 1; Inner Mongolian Daily, August 1). In a press conference, officials of the IMAU cited the party central leadership and CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping as saying that ‘the ecological conditions of Inner Mongolia is not only tied to the livelihood and development of different nationalities in the IMAU,’ and that ‘the ecological safety of northern China, the northeast, northwest and the whole country will be affected’ (Inner Mongolia Government, August 4). [...]

While the PRC constitution guarantees the legal rights of China’s 56 ethnic minorities in the areas of language, culture, religion and economic development, a new corps of conservative CCP theorists has urged the adoption of a ‘second-generation policy toward nationalities’ (第二代民族政策, dierdai minzu zhangce). One prominent theorist on this ‘melting pot’ strategy - meaning ‘pushing ahead with the integration of nationalities’ - is Professor Hu Angang (胡鞍钢) of Tsinghua University, a well-published government adviser. Hu has advocated a change from the first generation of ethnic policy - which allowed different nationalities to keep and develop their own cultures - to a second-generation policy of unity and centralized control. According to Hu, this means ‘pushing forward the mixing together into one of different nationalities in aspects including politics, economics, culture and society… We must strengthen the Chinese people’s consciousness of identity and uniformity… so as to achieve the great renaissance of the Chinese nation’ (Economic Herald, May 7, 2019; Sohu.com, December 17, 2017). ‘The great renaissance of the Chinese nation’ is, of course, a key part of Xi’s most famous slogan, ‘the Chinese Dream’ (中国梦, Zhongguo Meng).” (JF, 28. September 2020)

Radio Free Asia ist ein vom US-Kongress eingerichteter nicht-kommerzieller Radiosender mit Sitz in Washington, D.C., der über Ost- und Südostasien berichtet.

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: China Jails Dozens of Ethnic Mongolian Herders Who Blockaded Highway Construction, 25. Jänner 2018
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/mongolia-herders-01252018135138.html

„Chinese authorities in the northern region of Inner Mongolia have handed down jail terms of up to five years to dozens of ethnic Mongolian herders who blockaded a construction site on their traditional grazing lands.

The sentences were handed down to 35 herders from the Ulzeimurun Sum (a township-like administrative division) in Bayan-Tumen Gachaa following a mass trial at the Zaruud Banner People's Court, near Tongliao city.

The herders were found guilty of ‘picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,’ and gathering to assault government departments,’ and handed jail terms ranging from six months to five years, the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) reported on its website.

The herders were accused of blocking construction traffic during the building of interstate highway 208 between Ulzeimurun Sum and Lubei township last May, local media reported.” (RFA, 25. Jänner 2018)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: China Tries Ethnic Mongolian Historian For Genocide Book, in Secret, 12. April 2019
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/mongolia-trial-04122019153038.html

„Chinese authorities in the northern region of Inner Mongolia have tried an ethnic Mongolian writer in secret on ‘separatism’ charges, a rights group said on Friday.

Lhamjab A. Borjigin, 75, stood trial on April 4 on charges of ‘separatism’ and ‘sabotaging national unity,’ the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) reported.

‘The trial started at 9:00 a.m. on April 4 and ended around 12:00 p.m. at the Shiliinhot Municipal People’s Court,’ the group quoted a recorded audio message from Lhamjab as saying.

‘None of my family members were allowed to attend,’ he said. ‘I was denied the right to bring my lawyer to defend myself.’

A native of Heshigten Banner, a county-like division in Inner Mongolia, and a member of the state-backed Shiliingol League Literary Association, Lhamjab has been a prominent voice in ethnic Mongolian culture in China, as well as documenting the region's oral history.

He specializes in survivor testimonies of the political violence and social chaos of the Cultural Revolution, publishing his book ‘China's Cultural Revolution’ in 2006. [...]

For his book, Lhamjab gathered oral testimonies of survivors of violence against ethnic Mongolians during the Cultural Revolution, a task that took him 20 years.” (RFA, 12. April 2019)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Chinese Police Hold Another Ethnic Mongolian Writer Over Protest, 16. April 2019
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/chinese-police-hold-another-ethnic-mongolian-writer-04162019113037.html

„Chinese authorities in the northern region of Inner Mongolia are holding an ethnic Mongolian writer and teacher under criminal detention, a U.S.-based rights group said on Tuesday.

O. Sechenbaatar, 68, was detained along with a herder named Baldan at a protest near Lake Dalainuur in the region's Heshigten Banner, the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) said in a report on its website. [...]

Sechenbaatar has been placed under criminal detention on suspicion of ‘obstructing officials in the course of their duty,’ it said. He is currently being held at the Heshigten Banner Detention Center.

‘What worries us is that this is a criminal detention, not an ordinary administrative detention,’ fellow herder and activist Bao Guniang said via the social media platform WeChat. [...]

Sechenbaatar is the author of several books, including Spring Blossoms, Autumn of Tsunkh, Story of A Bald Thief, Heshigten Folklore, and Collection of Southern Mongolian Folklore Arts.

A former teacher at the Darhan-uul Hight School, he has also published hundreds of essays, poems, and lyrics in Mongolian language journals and magazines.

Sechenbaatar also hosted a number of WeChat groups to provide local Mongolian herders with a venue to discuss the pressing issues in their communities, including mining, environmental destruction, pollution, and herders’ protests, SMHRIC said.

‘Obstructing official business is just an excuse,’ a relative of Sechenbaatar said in an audio recording after his detention.

He said the initial charge is likely just to hold him on, while the authorities gather evidence for more serious charges, including leaking state secrets and ‘sabotaging national unity.’” (RFA, 16. April 2019)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Third Ethnic Mongolian Writer Held in China's Inner Mongolia, 22. April 2019
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/writer-04222019132439.html

„Chinese authorities in the northern region of Inner Mongolia have detained a third ethnic Mongolian writer and social media host after he protested the detention of fellow author and activist, O. Sechenbaatar.

Tsogjil, 40, who hosted a number of discussion groups on the social media platform WeChat, was detained on April 16 in the regional capital Hohhot, a New York-based rights group reported.

He had been preparing to file an official complaint to the regional government on behalf of ethnic Mongolian herders, the Southern Mongolian Human Rights and Information Center (SMHRIC) said on its website.

‘That same day, Tsogjil was brought back to his homeplace of Heshigten Banner and placed under criminal detention,’ it said.

He is being charged with ‘picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,’ and is currently being held in the Heshigten Banner Detention Center. [...]

According to SMHRIC, Tsogjil had been active in advocating for local communities' rights to use their native language and access their land, water, and other resources, as well as maintaining their ethnic identity.

He has created and hosted at least five WeChat discussion groups with a total membership of nearly 2,500 people, of which majority are Mongolian herders and grassroots activists, the group said. [...]

According to SMHRIC, Tsogjil had been active in advocating for local communities' rights to use their native language and access their land, water, and other resources, as well as maintaining their ethnic identity.

He has created and hosted at least five WeChat discussion groups with a total membership of nearly 2,500 people, of which majority are Mongolian herders and grassroots activists, the group said.” (RFA, 22. April 2019)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Two More Ethnic Mongolians Jailed in China, WeChat Groups Deleted, 26. April 2019
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/two-more-ethnic-mongolians-jailed-04262019115951.html

„Chinese authorities in the northern region of Inner Mongolia have detained two more group chat moderators on the social media platform WeChat after they took part in demonstrations in support of herding communities, a New York-based rights group said on Friday.

Ethnic Mongolian herders Bai Xiurong and Altanbagan, were detained by riot police at the scene of a demonstration outside government offices in Urad Middle Banner on April 22, the Southern Mongolian Human Rights and Information Center (SMHRIC) said in a statement on its website.

More than 100 herders from the banner, a county-like division, had gathered in front of the local government building to demand a meeting with Bu Xiaolin, chairman of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, who was on a visit to the area, it said.

Around a dozen people were detained, while Bai and Altanbagan were ‘thrown into SWAT [Special Weapons and Tactics Unit] vehicles’ and each handed a 14-day administrative detention sentence, which is handed down by a police committee without the need for a trial.” (RFA, 26. April 2019)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Ethnic Mongolian Author Sentenced, Placed Under 'Community Correction' Order, 16. September 2019
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/author-09162019110051.html

„Chinese authorities in the northern region of Inner Mongolia have sentenced an ethnic Mongolian writer in secret on ‘separatism’ charges, a rights group said at the weekend.

Lhamjab A. Borjigin, 75, was handed a one-year suspended prison sentence by the Shiliinhot Municipal People’s Court, which found him guilty of ‘separatism’ and ‘sabotaging naitonal unity’, the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) reported on Sunday.

Lhamjab stood trial on April 4, and has since been ‘released’ under tightly guarded house arrest at his home, he told SMHRIC.

‘During a careful investigation, the court found that this illegally published book, China’s Cultural Revolution, has contents of national separatism, and the author’s act already constitutes a crime of illegal business,’ the court judgment, a copy of which was shared with the group, said.” (RFA, 16. September 2019)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Authorities Cancel Mongolian-Medium Classes in Inner Mongolia's Tongliao City, 24. Juni 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/classes-06242020113853.html

„Chinese authorities in the northern region of Inner Mongolia are winding up native-language tuition in and around Tongliao city, beginning in September, RFA has learned.

Officials from the Tongliao municipal education bureau recently began giving verbal notification to schools in their jurisdiction that Mongolian-medium education will end with the start of the new academic year.

Teachers at a Mongolian-medium high school in the city had been warned of the move by education bureau officials during a recent inspection, an ethnic Mongolian high-school teacher wrote in a social media post.

From September, classes in math, physics, chemistry, and political and physical education will be taught instead in Mandarin Chinese, the post said.” (RFA, 24. Juni 2020)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Police Block Ethnic Mongolian Protesters Outside Government Offices, 22. Juli 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/block-07222020131007.html

„Riot police were dispatched to a city in China's northern region of Inner Mongolia after hundreds of herders gathered in protest over the loss of their grazing lands, a New York-based rights group reported on Wednesday.

More than 300 people from Bayan-uul Sum in the region's Bairin Left Banner, a county-level administrative region, on July 21, gathered outside banner headquarters in Lindong city, the Southern Mongolian Human Rights and Information (SMHRIC) reported on its website.

Holding up banners which read: ‘We want justice! Give us our legal rights!’ the herders demanded an immediate response from the banner authorities.

The herders are accusing government officials of using armed gangs to keep them from accessing their traditional grazing lands, a complaint that has become increasingly common amid ongoing exploitation of the region's grasslands by forestry and mining corporations backed by the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

Local police and special police were deployed to prevent the herders from getting inside the government building, according to video of the clashes published by SMHRIC.” (RFA, 22. Juli 2020)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Ethnic Mongolian Herders Protest Government-Backed Pig Farms in Durbed, 14. August 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/farms-08142020090634.html

„Hundreds of ethnic Mongolian herders protested on the streets of Durbed town over Chinese government-backed plans to build several large pig farms in the region.

More than 300 herders marched in Thursday's protest, holding a banner that read: ‘No to pig farming on grasslands, no to destruction of the natural environment,’ and chanting ‘We don't want pig farms! We want our grasslands protected!’

Ethnic Mongolian Khubis, who lives in Japan, said a second protest had taken place in the afternoon, involving more than 100 Durbed herders.” (RFA, 14. August 2020)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Ethnic Mongolian Parents Strike Over China's New Language Policy in Schools, 28. August 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/mongolia-language-08282020105851.html

„Parents in China's northern region of Inner Mongolia are refusing to send their children to school this semester in protest over changes to the curriculum by the ruling Chinese Communist Party. [...] Ethnic Mongolian rights activist Khubis said parents at one Mongolian-medium school in Tongliao had refused to enroll their children in protest.

‘Yesterday [Aug. 27], none of the parents of Mongolian students in Zaruud, near Tongliao city in eastern [Inner Mongolia], went to register their children,’ Khubis said.

‘I went to the school and but I didn't enrol mine either.’

The Zaruud Mongolian Experimental Primary School responded by issuing a notice to parents on Friday, he said.

‘The notice basically said that any parents who refused to enrol their kids would have their kids sent back to the school where they were previously registered,’ Khubis said.

‘The Tongliao municipal education department notified parents that ... schools officially went back on Aug. 27, so any parents refusing to enrol are delaying their children's access to compulsory education,’ he said.” (RFA, 28. August 2020)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Mass Protests Erupt as China Moves to End Mongolian-Medium Teaching in Schools, 31. August 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/schools-08312020093412.html

„Tens of thousands of ethnic Mongolian students and parents are demonstrating in northern China over unannounced plans by the Chinese government to phase out Mongolian-medium teaching in the region's schools.

Protests have broken out across major cities in China's northern region of Inner Mongolia over the weekend, including Tongliao, Ordos, and the regional capital, Hohhot, while one student jumped to his death, RFA has learned.

Local residents said one high-school student had died after jumping from the roof of the Sheebert Mongolian High School in Horchin Left Banner, a county-level administrative division.

‘On the evening of Aug. 30, a Mongolian student ... reportedly jumped from the building to his death,’ SMHRIC said, posting video footage showing an ambulance leaving the school amid angry protests.

An ethnic Mongolian resident confirmed the report.” (RFA, 31. August 2020)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Mongolian Schools Stay Empty Amid Ongoing Protests as Chinese Police Seek 'Troublemakers', 3. September 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/schools-09032020102203.html

„And ethnic Mongolian academic Arichaa said roadblocks have been set up at borders between banners and cities. [...]

A mass social media shutdown had made it harder for parents and teachers to coordinate their actions, Arichaa said.

‘Parents and teachers cannot communicate via phone calls, or WeChat,’ Arichaa said, adding that at least two people had reportedly been detained on suspicion of ‘picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,’ a charge often used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

On Sept. 2, police in Kezuohou Banner issued a notice calling on nine people involved in recent protests and class boycotts in Ganqika, Agula, Hailut and Gilgalang townships to turn themselves in.

Anyone with information leading to their detention is offered a 1,000 yuan reward. [...]

Ethnic Mongolian parents from across the region have continued to send video clips to the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC). The group estimated that, on the first day of the new semester on Sept. 1, around 300,000 ethnic Mongolian students had joined the boycott.

It said more than 100 people have been listed as wanted by police in Horchin district of Tongliao city, Zaruud Banner, Naiman Banner, Tongliao Development Zone, Horchin Left Wing Middle Banner, and Horchin Left Wing Rear Banner.

The posters accuse the people on the list as being suspected of ‘picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,’ it said.

It said reports had emerged that at least two Mongolian parents have committed suicide in protest at the authorities’ extreme pressure to send their children to school.” (RFA, 3. September 2020)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Ethnic Mongolian Official Dead by Suicide Amid Language Protests, 4. September 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/mongolia-language-09042020103032.html

„A 33-year-old ethnic Mongolian woman has died by suicide in what her family members said was an act of protest over the ruling Chinese Communist Party's plans to phase out Mongolian-medium education and language teaching in schools. Surnaa, who worked for a panel of the Chinese Communist Party in Inner Mongolia's Alxa administrative unit, died Friday morning. Attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful, the league police department said in a statement.” (RFA, 4. September 2020)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: China Detains Hundreds for 'Rumor-Mongering' Amid Mongolian Schools Protests, 7. September 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/mongolia-language-09072020161109.html

„The Communist Party committee of Bairin Right Banner -- a county-level division -- also warned recently that civil servants and public employees must send their children back to schools on Monday, or face suspension without pay from Sept. 8 pending expulsion hearings.

The announcements came as hundreds of ethnic Mongolians were arrested or forced to resign from public office after they resisted the changes to the curriculum, which were kept under wraps until the start of the new semester at the end of August.

The New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) has estimated that some 300,000 students have boycotted class across Inner Mongolia in protest at the policy, which will see Chinese used as the language of instruction for classes in math, physics, chemistry, and political and physical education in schools that previously offered Mongolian-medium education.” (RFA, 7. September 2020)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Nine Die, Thousands Arrested Amid Crackdown on Protesting Mongolians: Group, 14. September 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/crackdown-09142020184034.html

„Nine people have died and thousands have been detained as the authorities launched a region-wide crackdown on ethnic Mongolians protesting an end to Mongolian-medium education with class boycotts and street protests, a New York-based rights group reported on Monday.

‘As the nationwide school boycott enters its third week ... the Chinese government is turning the entire region into a police state,’ the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) said in a statement on its website.

‘At least nine Mongolians have lost their lives, and thousands have been arrested in protest of China’s latest cultural genocide campaign,’ it said. An estimated 300,000 students have boycotted class across Inner Mongolia since the end of August, in protest at a new language policy for schools, which will see Chinese used as the language of instruction in schools that once offered Mongolian-medium education. [...]

U.S.-based ethnic Mongolian Nomin said three teachers in East Ujimqin Banner and five officials in Abag Banner have been suspended in recent days for failing to enroll their children in school or for otherwise opposing the language policy.

‘A directive has been sent to local governments requiring all parents to present their children at schools within a specified time,’ Nomin said. ‘Those who don't will have their kids expelled from school.’

Notices circulating on social media and sent to RFA showed such warnings issued by the education bureau in Abag Banner to a local high school, and by the education bureau in Bairin Right Banner to a local kindergarten.

He cited the case of a factory boss in the region's capital, Hohhot, whose factory was damaged by officials in a bid to put pressure on him to send his children to school.

‘One kid fled to the hills, and the parents only found him after a few days of searching for him,’ Nomin said, also citing the case of rights defender Dulma Yang Jin who organized local herding communities to stand up for their rights.” (RFA, 14. September 2020)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Police in Inner Mongolia Arrest Prominent Rights Lawyer on Spying Charges, 7. Oktober 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/mongolia-lawyer-10072020104554.html

„Chinese authorities in the northern region of Inner Mongolia have arrested a human rights lawyer after he refused to send his child to school amid regionwide protests against plans to end Mongolian-medium education.

Police in Inner Mongolia's Tongliao city are have formally arrested Hu Baolong on charges of ‘leaking state secrets overseas,’ ethnic Mongolian scholar Khubis, who currently lives in Japan, told RFA on Wednesday.

He said he last had contact with Hu on Sept. 4.

‘Hu Baolong protested because his kid was starting primary school this year,’ Khubis said. ‘As a father, he was protesting against [the ruling Chinese Communist Party's] 'bilingual education' policy.’

‘I was told that he was arrested for giving information to foreigners,’ he said. ‘But all his messages were on WeChat and were about regular stuff that most people know about.’

Khubis said that, last time they spoke, he and Hu had avoided talking about the massive political resistance to plans to end Mongolian-medium education in the region's schools.

‘We talked about everyday life; there was nothing secret or sensitive,’ Khubis said. ‘I think they are targeting him for taking part in the resistance movement among parents in Tongliao.’” (RFA, 7. Oktober 2020)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: Thousands Held in Inner Mongolia As Crackdown on Language Protesters Continues, 20. Oktober 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/crackdown-10202020092816.html

„Chinese authorities in the northern region of Inner Mongolia have detained at least 8,000 ethnic Mongolians amid regionwide resistance to plans to phase out the use of the Mongolian language in schools.

‘An estimated 8,000–10,000 [ethnic] Mongolians have been placed under some form of police custody since late August,’ the New York-based Southern Mongolia Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) said in a statement on its website.

The ruling Chinese Communist Party has carried out mass arrests, arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, house arrests, and ‘intensive training’ across the region, which borders the independent country of Mongolia, after parents and students organized a region-wide class boycott and took to the streets in protest at changes to the curriculum, sources in the region and overseas rights activists have said.

Khubis, an ethnic Mongolian activist living in Japan, told RFA that rights lawyer Hu Baolong and activist Yang Jindulima remain in custody.

He said some detainees have refused officially appointed lawyers, in the hope of appointing a defense attorney of their own.

Hu was detained by police in his home city of Tongliao along with at least eight others on suspicion of ‘picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,’ a charge often used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

U.S.-based ethnic Mongolian Nomin, a former colleague of Hu's, said she had been unable to get in touch directly with anyone connected with Hu or Yang.

Yang hails from Abag Banner in Shilingol League, which borders Mongolia.

‘I talked to Yang [before the protests], and she told me she wouldn't be taking part because she had just gotten married,’ Nomin said. ‘She had opened a restaurant in Xilinhot, but the police still had her under constant surveillance.’

‘A couple of police officers would just go and sit in her restaurant every day without saying anything,’ she said.

The authorities have also fired ethnic Mongolian parents, blacklisted and expelled their children, confiscated assets, and denied bank loans to protesting parents, SMHRIC said.” (RFA, 20. Oktober 2020)

·      RFA – Radio Free Asia: China Recruits Mandarin Teachers Amid Ongoing Crackdown in Inner Mongolia, 1. Dezember 2020
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/recruits-12012020105355.html

„The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is mass recruiting secondary school teachers to work in the northern region of Inner Mongolia amid ongoing arrests, protests, and class boycotts at plans to phase out Mongolian-medium teaching in schools.

Online government documents issued in the weeks since protests rocked the region in early September reveal government plans to hire more than 1,000 teachers across the region.

Local banner and league governments across the region have also posted recruitment ads for hundreds of teachers from elsewhere in China to relocate to the region and teach Mandarin.

‘After written examinations, interviews, physical examinations and other recruitment procedures, the education departments of the leagues and cities plan to hire a total of 1,883 teachers to these special posts,’ an official Inner Mongolian government testing and recruitment site announced in September.

It said the move was in line with a directive from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region government to recruit ‘special post’ teachers for rural areas and to teach in areas where ethnic Mongolians still follow a traditional herding lifestyle.

A recruitment document posted to the official website of the Kuulun Banner government meanwhile said it would be publishing recruitment exam scores and invitations to interview between Nov. 30 and Dec. 2.

Yang Haiying, a university professor born in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, and now living in Japan, said the move was the next step in the CCP's bid to eliminate Mongolian mother-tongue education.

‘So, they are recruiting from the rest of China, not Inner Mongolia, which means they are basically looking for Han Chinese,’ Yang said. ‘Then, once they get to Inner Mongolia, they will replace ethnic Mongolian teachers, furthering their policy of assimilation.’

[...] An estimated 10,000 people have been arrested or placed under other forms of detention since hundreds of thousands of Mongolian students and their families staged a regionwide civil disobedience campaign against the phasing out of Mongolian in schools that were previously Mongolian-medium.

While many have since been released, some high profile activists including rights lawyer Hu Baolong and activist Yang Jindulima remain in incommunicado detention, according to Nomin, an ethnic Mongolian currently in the U.S.” (RFA, 1. Dezember 2020)

Das Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre (SMHIRC) ist eine von DissidentInnen aus der Inneren Mongolei gegründete Advocacy-Organisation mit Sitz in New York, die sich für den Schutz der Rechte von MongolInnen in der Inneren Mongolei einsetzt.

·      SMHRIC – Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre: China's finishing touch on cultural genocide in Southern Mongolia, 20. August 2020
http://www.smhric.org/news_671.htm

„Leaders of Southern Mongolian organizations that advocate the complete independence of Southern Mongolia have rallied Mongolians to fight for their national freedom.

Mr. Hada, long-term political prisoner and President of the Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance, said in a written statement to the SMHRIC, ‘Southern Mongolians have no choice but to fight for the total independence of Southern Mongolia. To become completely free from Chinese colonial occupation, the only and best option is national independence.’

‘Even if this round of our resistance moment ends up with failure in the face of China’s brutal crackdown, the moment itself will help lay the firm foundation of our future movement for independence,’ Mr. Hada, who is still under house arrest in Hohhot, the capital of Southern Mongolia, said, encouraging fellow Southern Mongolians not to give up their fight.” (SMHRIC, 20. August 2020)

·      SMHRIC – Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre: Massive civil disobedience breaks out, tension rises, 29. August 2020
http://www.smhric.org/news_673.htm

„From kindergarteners to top intellectuals, from middle schoolers to college students, from ordinary herders to rural villagers, and from businessmen even to some government officials, people from all walks of life of Southern Mongolia are standing up in an unprecedented level of solidarity and coordination against the new policy, which many see as a new round of ‘cultural genocide.’

Despite the government’s push for an early start of the semester, authorities’ intimidation and official propaganda, parents and students across Southern Mongolia are joining the massive school boycott. Schools and classrooms are empty, according to pictures and videos the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center received. [...]

Teacher strikes are widespread. Ignoring the school authorities’ pressure and threat to terminate employment, all Mongolian teachers in Ereen-hot City in Shiliin-gol League have gone on strike.

‘The principals are scheduling one-to-one meetings with all Mongolian teachers. But the teachers are unanimously saying no to this trick. They are agreeing to meet with the principals only if all the teachers are allowed to attend together,’ a Mongolian parent from the city said in an audio statement.

Many parents are proposing homeschooling instead of sending their children to Chinese schools. Some retired teachers and even college students are volunteering to teach all subjects in Mongolian. Others are rallying students, teachers, parents, and ordinary Mongolian herders to stage a synchronous demonstration in major cities across Southern Mongolia. [...]

Videos went viral showing hundreds of herders and thousands of students in traditional Mongolian clothes gathered in undisclosed separate places, singing ‘My Mongolia, Steppe Mongolia’ to protest the new language policy.

Singers and musicians are gathering to rally fellow Southern Mongolians to defend their right to mother tongue and reject the ‘Second Type of Bilingual Education.’

Mongolian lawyers and legal professionals are providing guidance to defend the Mongolian rights and possibly file lawsuits against the educational authorities and individual perpetrators in accordance with the Chinese constitutions, Ethnic Minority Autonomy Law, and other relevant laws and regulations that guarantee the rights of national minorities to their mother tongues.

Group protests, rallies, signature collection campaigns and solo protests in video, audio, and written formats are going viral via WeChat and TikTok. [...]

Creative cartoons and short video clips remind people of the power of solidarity. A short cartoon with a Mongolian poem asks Southern Mongolians to unite together to defend their rights, showing stories of ants versus an anteater, crabs versus a seagull, and penguins versus a killer whale.

In another short video, a young Mongolian man teaches people how to deal with the school authorities by having their children take ‘sick leave.’ ‘I am not sure when my child will recover. But I hope he will be fine by the time bilingual education is canceled,’ he said in mockery, pretending to answer the principal’s question of ‘When can your child return to school?’

As the protest gathers momentum, the authorities are intensifying their crackdown. Hundreds of angry parents gathered in front of the Gahait Mongolian School of Zaruud Banner, demanding the immediate discharge of their children, who have been confined to their dormitories after their parents sent them to the school a day ago without the knowledge of the change. SWAT [Special Weapons and Tactics Unit] teams and hundreds of riot police poured to the scene, preventing the parents from accessing the school dormitories. Following hours of standoff, parents finally broke through the police barricade and proceeded to pick up their children.

In Horchin Left Hand Rear Banner, protests by the Mongolian parents are met with police crackdown. Several parents were beaten and taken into police vehicles. In Horchin Right Hand Front Banner and Huree Banner, protesting parents sang Mongolian songs including ‘Let Us Mongolians Be Who We Are’ and ‘I Am Mongolian.’

In front of the entrance of the Inner Mongolia Normal University Affiliated School in the regional capital, Hohhot, police interfered in a protest staged by parents and students and confiscated their joint appeal. [...]

Hundreds of Mongolian activists have either been detained or placed under residential surveillance, a form of house arrest. Ms. Ulaantuyaa, a teacher from Zaruud Banner, and Mr. Nasanbayar, who rallied the people publicly to protest the new language policy, were taken away by police. Herder’s leaders Ms. Bao Guniang and Ms. Yanjindulam were given orders not leave their residences.” (SMHRIC, 29. August 2020)